19th Century Classical Liberalism
Group: Tracey Brent; Allen Vang; Charlotte Antonson; Edward Staats
Introduction The purpose of this project is to explore 19th Century Classical Liberalism. 19th Century liberals were men of the bourgeois, who disdained the aristocracy but who looked down on the property-less working class. They advocated for the principles of the French Revolution but abhorred the violence that followed after 1789. They believed in Liberty, Equality and Fraternity and the principles of the Rights of Man and the Citizen proclaimed in August of 1789 and believed in the principle of property as the source of responsible judgment and solid citizenship. But they had many diverse ideas and differed in Great Britain; France and the Germanies.1
The Revolutions of 1848 were the Liberals attempt to achieve their political goals of constitutional monarchies but failed in Prussia, Austria and France because of the forces of reaction and conservatism that retook power after the collapse of the 1848 Revolutions.
The term Liberal comes from the Spanish word liberales, who drew up their Constitution of 1812 in opposition to the absolutist Spanish monarchy. But liberal ideas came from the Enlightenment as the French Revolution of 1789.2
Liberalism can be divided into: Social Liberalism; Economic Liberalism; and Political Liberalism.
Social Liberalism viewed society in terms of freedom of individual choice and opportunities for growth. Each individual succeeded through their own efforts and if they failed it was because of some inherent weakness and deserved no charity.
Economic Liberalism that stressed Laissez faire and believed in no governmental interference in the market and no trade barriers or worker’s unions, as David Ricardo expounded about economic laws and the “iron law of wages”. 3
Political liberalism worked for constitutional and representative institutions; freedom of assembly and the press (no censorship). But they did not necessarily favor democracy since only men of property, wisdom and education had sufficient political judgment. Liberals believed in the ideas of John Locke. They believed these political ideas would benefit all individuals and provide the opportunity for advancement. We start with Great Britain, the outstanding exception to the continent, where liberalism flourished for most of the 19th Century. Liberalism in Great Britain (TB)
The liberal movement started in the 1870’s in Great Britain. It was a political, social, and economic movement that began here sooner than anywhere else, and was thought to be more successful here than anywhere in continental Europe. Once known as the Whig Party, it transformed into the Liberal Party. This movement was heavily influenced by John Locke, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill. During this time the British government passed legislation to introduce compulsory primary school education, reduce working hours within industries, as well as introducing the first safety standards for factories. These were small steps towards greater levels of state intervention in social and economic matters.4
Economic Liberalism
As noted early, Great Britain was thought to be the model of liberalism. David Ricardo and Adam Smith were two of this time periods’ founding members of philosophies on economic prosperity. David Ricardo (1772-1823), an English political economi
David Ricardo
st, wrote in his book Principles of Political Economy (1817) that liberalism was the keystone of modern economics. He also believed that the wealth of the community comes from land, capital and labor, and that these “classes” are compensated by rent, profit, and wages. He believed that a product’s value results in the labor needed to make it. This was known as the labor theory of value. Ricardo’s views are comparable with those of John Locke and Adam Smith.
Adam Smith
Adam Smith (1723-1790), also a philosopher of this time, wrote The Wealth of Nations (1776), a book discussing and encouraging a free market economy. Both Smith and Ricardo believed that the market should be free of regulation and restrictions. They also believed that the state should not regulate production or trade. They believed that for a state to achieve economic growth, politicians must adopt some of the efficiency and energy of the men of action who transformed the economy.5
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is defined as the idea that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its contribution to overall utility: that is, its contribution to happiness or pleasure as summed among all people. The idea of utilitarianism was most recognized by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832),
Jeremy Bentham
an English jurist, philosopher, legal and social reformer. Bentham “believed he could rationally deduce practical programs from universal principles.” He criticized the legal system and was an opponent of the precedent-bound courts of England. Unlike other philosophers of his time, Bentham rejected the Doctrine of Natural Rights and instead believed that utility, which was measured by “the greatest good for the greatest number”, would replace natural rights. Also unlike other philosophers, who believed in a limited government, Bentham believed in a central role for government. He believed that people should be rewarded for the good actions they commit, and should be penalized for the undesirable actions they commit. John Stuart Mill states, in his book Utilitarianism, “…pleasure and freedom from pain are the only things desirable as ends; and that all desirable things (which are numerous in the utilitarian as in any other scheme) are desirable either for the pleasure inherent in themselves or as means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain.” 6 Bentham did however believe in economic freedom, separation of church and state, freedom of expression, equal rights for women, and the end of slavery among other things.
Bentham’s followers called themselves “philosophic radicals” and while they didn’t always adopt all of his beliefs, they did always apply his principles. By his death in 1832, they were among the most important reformers of Parliament, law, prisons, education, and welfare. They pushed for “humane reforms on grounds of common sense and natural harmony.” 7
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill was thought to be the most important liberal thinker of the nineteenth century. Raised under strict utilitarianism and a student of
John Stuart Mill
Bentham’s, Mill was a philosopher, an economist, and a publicist. Mill was seen to have written some of the most influential classics of modern thought. Mill was fearful of the intolerance and oppression and believed that freedom of thought was the first principle. He favored an open administration, organized interest groups, and workers’ cooperatives. Mill also believed in a strong distinction between production and distribution.
Mill is famous for several well known writings including On Liberty (1859), which was one of the most important works in European political theory. On Liberty is a “balanced, yet unyielding declaration that society can have no higher interest that the freedom of each of its members.” Mill believed that rulers should have limits on their powers and that people have a right to have a say in government’s decisions.8 He believed that social liberty was “the nature and limits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual.” It was attempted in two ways: first, by obtaining recognition of certain immunities, called political liberties or rights; second, by establishment of a system of "constitutional checks ". Mill believed however that limiting government’s power was simply not enough. He goes on to say:
“Society can and does execute its own mandates: and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with which it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself.” What Mill means, is that man must control his own destiny. He also states that, "Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.” 9
John Stuart Mill was also an advocate for universal suffrage. He favored woman’s rights and equality. In 1851 Mill married Harriet Taylor (1807-1858)
Mill and Harriet Taylor
, a fellow woman’s activist who shared similar, but more radical views on women’s equality. Taylor was an enormous influence on the works of Mill and was seen to be his inspiration. In 1851 Taylor published The Enfranchisement of Women, and in 1869, upon Taylor’s death, Mill published The Subjection of Women. While Taylor’s arguments were a bit more radical, they both shared similar points. Mill’s work states that, “…the legal subordination of one sex to the other—is wrong in itself…” 10 and Taylor writes, “…The real question is, whether it is right and expedient that one-half of the human race should pass through life in a state of forced subordination to the other half.11 Both quotes directly refer to women being subordinates of men. While they shared similarities, they also had a few opposing viewpoints. Mill believed that a woman’s place was in the home, to take care of the chores and to look after the children. Taylor on the other hand believed that women have every right to work outside of the home just like the men do.
William Gladstone
William Gladstone (1809-1898),
William Gladstone
a British statesman, was a four time Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1868–74, 1880–85, 1886 and 1892–94). Gladstone was commonly referred to as “The People’s William” or the “Grand Old Man (G.O.M)”. Gladstone was most notably known for his work in transforming the Whig party to the Liberal party. Gladstone is also known for his rivalry with conservative Tory party leader, Benjamin Disraeli. While they never had any fights, they did have very strong opposing viewpoints. Disraeli was known to refer to Gladstone as “God’s One Mistake.”
William Gladstone also had a strong influence on reform in his time. In his first year as Prime Minister, his government created the first national elementary program along with reforms in the justice system and civil service. Gladstone is famous for stating “Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear.”12
While Great Britian was affected by the Enlightenment France was influenced by the French intellectuals of the Enlightenment and especially the Revolution of 1789.
Liberalism in France
The Rights of Man and the Citizen (AV)
To understand French liberalism the place to start is the Revolution of 1789 and the key document is the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. This document called for all men to be citizens, no longer subjects but as citizens to have rights and responsibilities. The first article: “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on common utility.” This was the basis of liberalism and in particular French liberalism and was derived from the ideas of the Enlightenment. (Hunt, Lynn Brief documentary history. Pg. 78)13
The second article: “The purpose of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression”. These liberties were the core principles to Liberalism. (Hunt, Lynn Brief documentary history. Pg. 78)14
Article three states: “the principles of all sovereignty rests essentially in the nation. No body and on individual may exercise authority which does not emanate expressly from the nation.” This was the basis for liberals to assert that as property owners they had the political wisdom to be able to exercise authority. That authority no longer belongs to the aristocracy or monarchy. (Hunt, Lynn Brief documentary history. Pg. 78)15
Article four states: “liberty consists in the ability to do whatever does not harm another; hence the exercise of natural rights of each man has no other limits than those which assures to other members of society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by the law.” Liberals saw this as providing no restraint on one’s liberty except when it injured or limited another. This was the basis for much of the social and economic liberal practices. (Hunt, Lynn Brief documentary history. Pg. 78)16
Article fourteen states: “All citizens have the right, by themselves or through their representatives, to have demonstrated to them the necessity of public taxes, to consent to them freely, to follow the use made of the proceeds, and to determine the means of apportionment, assessment, and collection, and the duration of them.” Economic liberals were particularly concerned about a limited government and its taxing authority. (Hunt, Lynn Brief documentary history. Pg. 79)17
Article seventeen states: “Property being an inviolable and sacred right, no one may be deprived of it except when public necessity, certified by law, obviously requires it, and on the condition of a just compensation in advance.” (Hunt, Lynn Brief documentary history. Pg. 79)18
Laissez-faire was what the French liberals wanted from their government; limited government which protect the rights of private property, does not interfere in the market and imposes no trade barriers, either internal or international tariffs. This philosophy freed the French enterprises from the restrictions of both the old gild system and Napoleonic wartime controls. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 156) 19
Self-styled Liberal Party (1814) In general the French liberals subscribed to the principles of the French Revolution of 1789 but abhorred the violence that followed in 1793 and the period of the Reign of Terror. Once Napoleon was defeated and exiled and the allies installed the Bourbon restoration (1814), the French Liberal party was a mosaic of elements joined together by little more than common hostility to the Bourbons. Their leaders were: Lafayette (republican); Jacques Manuel (a Bonapartist); and Benjamin Constant (a constitutional monarchist). But none of these were effective leaders. The republican faction was small and feared for their violence and anarchy. The chief spokesmen of the Liberal party were constitutional monarchist who stood for a parliamentary system like Great Britain, with rights protected by the state and suffrage limited to men of property. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 106)20
The Bonapartists were the most curious adherent to the liberal coalition. They may appear to be part of the coalition as a marriage of convenience, hypocritical alliance of authoritarian and liberals bound by nothing more than their common desire to destroy the Bourbon compromise. They both felt a strong common bond when the fundamental achievements of the revolution were thought to be in danger. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 106)21
After 1816 the political trend was steadily leftward, with every election more liberals gained seats. Elie Decazes (minister to the king) clung to a middle of the road line in the belief that he could persuade the milder liberals to his cause. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 105)22
When the Chamber met in 1830, the king and his ministers prepared secret decrees (July Ordinances) that dissolved the newly-elected chamber even before its first meeting. This meant that the liberals were deprived of the right to vote and stripped the press of any semblance of liberty. To ensure surprise no troops were moved to Paris to reinforce the garrison. But the king assumed that no protests would result from these actions. And the government was confident since the French army had been successful in Algeria and it was anticipated that patriotism would sweep away any protest. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 114)23
But within “three glorious days”, Charles had lost his throne and his capital. The insurrection started gradually, with a few small demonstrations on the 27th, street clashes on the 28th and on the 29th street barricades, when the royal garrison abandoned the city to the rebels. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 114)24
A group of liberal politicians and journalists had been meeting sporadically from the outset of the crisis in an effort to shape and control the course of events. But they could not agree on any effective action until the 29th. The liberal leaders hastily named a governing commission for Paris. Its members were constitutional monarchists; its aim was to substitute a new dynasty for the old. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 114)25
Thiers called for the Duke d’Orleans to ascend the throne as a constitutional monarch. Charles abdicated and went into exile for the second time to England. Louis-Philippe ascended the throne and had the support of Lafayette, who had previously refused to accept the presidency of a French republic. With the crowning of a new king, the revolution of 1830 was over. French liberals did not form a solid block. One section became reconciled with the monarchial compromise of 1814-1848 and sought to provide a doctrine this fusion of revolution and old regime. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pgs 115 & 184)26
The left-wing current of liberal thought persisted thoughout the period. It was ess easily satisfied by the monarchiacal compromise and more inclined to cling to the heritage of the Enlightenment. They showed little creative talent in presenting new ideas. Their most notable thinkers were Benjamin Constant and J. B. Say during the Bourbon period; Adolphe Thiers, Charles de Remusat, and Frederic Bastiat in the Orleanist period; Lucien Prevost-Paradol under the Second Empire. The total intellectual contribution to the development of liberal theory was remarkably meager especially when contrasted with the richness of French liberal though in the age of reason and with the vigor and variety of the English contribution. French liberalism in the nineteenth century could do little mre than produce pale imitators or dilettantes and it seemed that the liberal ideology had faded after the flowering before the French Revolution of 1789. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 185) 27
Prominent French Liberals
Bastiat, Frederic (1801-1850) was a liberal economist who died prematurely of tuberculosis. He asserted that the only purpose of government is to defend the right of an individual to life, liberty, and property. From this definition, Bastiat concluded that the law cannot defend life, liberty and property if it promotes socialist policies inherently opposed to these very things. In this way, he says, the law is perverted and turned against the thing it is supposed to defend. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 185) 28
Constant de Rebecque , Henri-Benjamin (1767 – 1830) was a fervent liberal, fought against the Restauration and was active in French politics as a publicist and politician during the latter half of the French Revolution and between 1815 and 1830. During part of this latter period, he sat in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower legislative house of the Restoration-era government. He was one of its most eloquent orators and a leader of the parliamentary block first known as the Indepentants and then as liberals. (Apply reference) 29
The Napoleonic conquests of the German States introduced the ideas of the French Revolution into the German States.
Liberalism in the German States (CA) Liberalism as a political movement began in the Germanies in 1815 when the people started to push for a constitution to safeguard their rights from the state as well as allow them to participate in it.35 This would lead one to think that they were pushing for a new form of government entirely which is not the case; the liberals in the German confederation wanted a constitutional monarchy which would leave their existing monarchies in place. The people were skeptical of completely giving up their traditional form of government so they compromised by leaving the monarchies in place and just limiting their powers through the guarantees of freedom for citizens given by the constitution.36 The constitution would provide them with liberty by ensuring the individuals rights and freedoms were protected against the state as well as provide them with citizenship by allowing them to participate in the state.37 This participation, or suffrage, would not however be granted to everyone, only male property owners, leaving women, minorities, and the landless population out since they were not considered independent enough in their thoughts and opinions to participate.38
August von Ludwig
August von Ludwig
When looking at early liberalism in the Germanies it is essential to address August Ludwig von Schlözer who was considered the forefather of German liberalism in that his views and ideals became those of the future liberal movement. Ludwig von Schlözer wanted the rule of law to be applied to all people within the state including the Monarchs to assure citizens retained their original human rights. This was adopted by later liberals who, as was stated before, wanted to keep the monarchy in place but have their powers be limited by the constitution or rule of law. Schlözer saw reform, not revolution, as the path to make this reality which was the sentiment of the later liberals who watched the French Revolution fail and did not want a repeat of that in their countries.39 Schlözer also called for legal equality while at the same time accepting the theory that some inequalities in class rank and economic circumstances were due to the differences in ability and talent. In his opinion if everyone was given an equal opportunity to succeed then those who did not could blame no one but themselves.40 This theory held over to the liberals who were made up of industrialists, merchants, financiers, mine owners, railroad promoters, civil servants and university professors. They were against privilege yet in favor of property rights and such because they felt that those who were successful enough to acquire it were entitled to keep it.41
Karlsbad Decrees 1819 A question to address in the early liberals motivations is why liberalism was pushed so strongly within the Germanies. This is answered by examining the Karlsbad Decrees of 1819 which were a set of decrees meant to keep the political public, or those in office, from spouting left-wing, or liberal, ideals. Those civil servants with liberal leanings had to either change their opinions to match that of the government or risk being fired and black balled from other jobs, jail time, or worse. The decrees called for a closer supervision of universities to be sure that teachers were not teaching the liberal views that could potentially be harmful to the state .42 The press was also monitored and censored to ensure they stayed favorable to the government which to the liberals was one of the worst parts of the decrees because they saw free press as a way for individuals to participate in politics and of uniting Germany.43 There was also a federal bureau set up by the decrees to help contain the revolutionary agitation by the liberals. These decrees were meant to suppress the liberal movement but it actually had the opposite effect, the liberals were spurred on and enraged by the decrees and responded with more agitation and a stronger push for liberalization .44
Nationalism The early liberals of the Germanies not only wanted the freedoms and participation involved in the liberalization process, they also liked the idea of nationalism that liberalism sported. The Germanies were divided into individual states with different governments, economies, and social spheres which prevented them from emerging as a strong political or economic leader within the European states. The thought of nationalization was vital to the liberal movement gaining support in the early 1840’s. Many people wanted to unite the Germanies under a common culture and sense of identity which the liberalists connected to their movement and were able to gain many nationalist supporters to their cause.45 Although the Germanies wanted to emerge as a more economically powerful and stable state they did not want to liberalize their economies.
Economic liberalism In the early years of liberalism economic liberalism did not go hand in hand with political liberalism in the Germanies. The German liberals did not agree with the policy of free economy that Adam Smith advocated for and that England eventually adopted, they saw a free market as a war of everyone against everyone with no one actually benefiting. Instead of unlimited competition the early liberals called for free access to guilds with some laws in place to govern trade and industry to ensure some protections.46
Decade of Reaction 1849-1859 There was a revolutionary attempt in the Germanies by the liberals to try and change the traditional political structure and impose a constitution to ensure their freedoms. This revolution and its failure will be talked about more in depth later in the paper, this section will talk about the after effects of the revolution. After the failure of the liberal revolution of 1848 and 1849 there followed a decade of reaction within the Germanies that lasted from 1849 to 1859 in which the liberals were suppressed and the monarchs began to try and reassert their powers.47 There was a sense of Realpolitick or political reality among the German liberals, Ludwig August von Rochau sums up this feeling after he wrote the book Grundsätze der Realpolitik in1853 when he said, “The castles that they built in the air have evaporated, the defenceless rights, whose theoretical recognition they achieved, have no more than an apparent effect on practice.”48 This quote follows the feeling of the liberals after the failed revolution in that they realized that the ambitions of the past generation were not all together realistic; they built up an illusionary government that did not and could not really exist and in the end there was not much left. The German people finally just accepted the existing government and decided to work with it rather than try to change it for the better. Rochau did, however, believe that the revolution had shown the monarchies how important the middle class was by showing the government that they did exist and that they could rally enough to impact the governmental structure. The revolution show that the middle class wanted to play a more major role in politics and that if they did not get it they would revolt again.49
This was true for most although realpolitik meant something a little different to Julius Hölder who in 1855 began a new campaign for change when he united the democratic and the liberal parties. The two parties joined together after many years of considering each other enemies in a parliamentary party in order to resist the government’s plans to revise the municipal organization that had been liberalized in 1849. To Julius Hölder Realpolitik was not sacrificing all liberal values but also not pushing for unrealistic changes in the government. The party wanted to cooperate with the government as much as possible while continuing to push for some reforms they saw as necessary such as keeping things like the Basic Rights from repeal. The Basic Rights being repealed by the Chamber of Deputies in 1852 was actually one of the main factors leading to the parties joining forces.50
The liberals were not the only ones to compromise after the revolution, the governments and monarchies also began to realize that compromise and some cooperation was the best policy to ensure peace and unity. This is seen in the words of King Maximilian II of Bavaria in 1859, “I want peace with my people and with me Chambers.” This was in regard to the strife present within his Chambers of Deputies as well as among his citizens. In order to achieve this peace he granted legal emancipation to the Jews, enacted a new commercial law, and reformed the judicial system. National unity is the one area in which the liberals and many monarchs agreed on and they all saw nationalism as the way to achieve this.51
Baden Liberalism
Baden
There was one successful liberal state within the Germanies that served as a kind of model of liberalism for other German states for a time and that was Baden. They decentralized the block of state administration and created new district councils to enforce local self-government. The state fulfilled one of the main ideals of the German liberals in 1864 when justice reforms turned it into a state founded on the rule of law. Another liberal goal was to have separation of the justice and administration which was also adapted in Baden in 1864 through the reforms. There was also occupational freedom and freedom of movement and marriage. Additionally the Badenese liberalism followed the liberal ideals when it came to economic policies; there was not a call for full freedom of trade but instead a cautious reform of the existing guild system. Baden’s liberal government, run by the Lamey-Roggenbach cabinet, collapsed in 1865 when Roggenbach’s national policies failed and he was forced to accept those of Bismark.52
Despite the fact that liberalism did not take a strong hold within the states of Germany during the 19th century they still left their mark and continued to be active in the political realm for years to come. The National Liberal Party continued to run candidates in German elections and won more seats than any other party between 1871 and 1879 under the leadership of Rudolf von Benningsen and Johannes von Miquel.53
The Revolutions of 1848 were the attempt by liberals in the German states to secure constitutional monarchies and the end of serfdom by were largely a failure because of the reactionary forces.
Revolutions of 1848 (ES)
Elements of Revolutions
There are two elements necessary for people to engage in revolutions. The first is that life is no longer tolerable, that the conditions of everyday life have been bad over many times and places but few revolutions have occurred. The second element is that people who suffer must also believe that a better life is possible for themselves or their community. Only with these two elements do people have the courage to act.54 Revolutions of 1848
The Revolutions of 1848 were separate, spontaneous events throughout Europe. Many people throughout Europe wanted essentially the same things: constitutional government; the independence and unification of national groups; and an end to serfdom were it still existed.55 The “February” Revolution in France
The monarchy of Louis-Philippe
Louis-Philippe
was unstable because of the republican reformers demanding a constitutional monarchy. These reformers planned a great banquet for February 22, 1848 in Paris and then demonstrations in the streets.56
Louis-Philippe expressly opposed these actions and the government forbade all such meetings. Barricades were erected in the working class quarters of Paris as the insurgents prepared to resist the government.57
The National Guard was called out but refused to move against the insurgents. Louis-Philippe promised electoral reforms but the republicans took charge of the mobilized workers and they demonstrated in front of the house of Francois Guizot (Louis-Philippe’s chief minister).58
The guards around Guizot’s house fired on the demonstrators, killing twenty people. These “martyrs” were paraded throughout the city and the armed workers rioted.59
This led to Louis-Philippe abdicating and he fled to England on February 24, 1848. The republicans forced the proclamation of the Second Republic, setting up a provisional government of ten men, one of whom was Lamartine and called for an elected Constituent Assembly.60
The Provisional Government, urged by the Socialist Louis Blanc, established “The National Workshops” but no real work was assigned to them. They became an extensive project in unemployment relief. Men were given the task of digging roads and fortifications outside of Paris. By the middle of June 120,000 men enrolled in the Workshops with an additional 50,000 men idle in Paris.61
The Constituent Assembly, elected by universal suffrage, met in May and replaced the Provisional Government. Lamartine was the head of the executive board.62
France was a rural country of provincial bourgeois and peasant landlords, quite conservative in outlook. But Paris was more supportive of revolutionary action that the rest of the country could not support. The French workingmen were tormented by the evils of long working hours, small pay and the insecurity of employment. They felt that the capitalist economy held no future for them.63
The “June Days” of 1848
The National Workshops in Paris brought together these discontented workers were they could talk, listen to lectures and speeches and agree on common action. Agitators made use of the opportunity and the workers were desperate, feeling that the republic was not meeting their needs. On May 15, 1848, they attacked the Constituent Assembly and dove out its members and declared it dissolved and set up a new provisio0nal government of the workers. But the National Guard (a civilian militia) turned against the insurgents and restored the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly abolished the National Workshops and the workers were to enlist in the Army, join provincial workshops, or be expelled from Paris by force.64
The workers resisted these plans and the government proclaimed martial law, with power transferred to the regular army under General
General Cavaignac
Cavaignac. There followed the “Bloody June Days” (June 24-26, 1848) when a class war raged in Paris. Twenty thousand men from the Workshops took up arms and they joined with thousands more from the working-class districts of Paris. They set up barricades and resisted but after three days the army had eliminated the opposition, with ten thousand dead or wounded.65
The class warfare of the June Days reverberated throughout France and Europe. It was seen that class war had broken out and militant workers confirmed that the bourgeois class would use the army to defend capitalism and society was “a prey to a feeling of terror comparable to anything since the invasion of Rome by the barbarians” wrote a French woman.66
The Constituent Assembly drafted a republican constitution but with a strong executive president elected by universal suffrage. Four candidates ran for president: Lamartine and Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte and two other lesser candidates. Bonaparte was elected overwhelmingly in December 1848 receiving 5.4 million votes.67
With this election and subsequent plebiscites Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte gained control of the Second Republic of France and established the Second Empire. But this was a conservative, monarchist Legislative Assembly. The French, bored with the drab bourgeois monarchy were stirred by the Napoleonic Legend and past imperial glories.68
Vienna and Habsburg Austria of 1848 The Austrian empire was divided into three major divisions: Austria; Bohemia; and Hungary; with a dozen different nationalities or language groups: Germans; Czechs; Magyars etc. Often these nationalities lived intertwined together, languages changed from house to house.69
Austria was also the most influential power within the German Confederation. This influence was throughout as was previously mentioned enactment of the Karlsbad decrees. Austria’s influence also reached into much of Italy, even to the Papal States until 1846.70
But nationalism was stirring in the Austrian empire and that yearning for independence even within the Austrian empire was simmering just below the surface. The Polish and Hungarian gentry for generations had been nationalistic. To win over the masses these nationalists promised an end to serfdom.71
The March Days
On March 13, 1848 everything collapsed with news of the February Revolution in Paris. Workingmen and students rose in insurrection, manned barricades, fought off soldiers and invaded the imperial palace. The government collapsed and Clemens von Metternich resigned and fled to England. Emperor Ferdinand was forced to grant Hungary and Bohemia complete constitutional separation within the empire.72
Revolution spread throughout the empire and though Germany. Rioting in Berlin led to the king of Prussia (Frederick William IV) to promise a constitution. Everywhere constitution had been promised and constitutional assemblies were meeting and patriots everywhere demanded liberal government and national freedom: written constitutions, representative assemblies, extended suffrage; and civil liberties and freedom of the press and assembly.73
Repression in the Austrian empire The revolution could not be sustained, the leaders were not really men of action but of ideas; they were middle class bourgeois, property-owning, often writers, editors, professors and students and the workers were not as organized or as politically conscious as in Paris.74
The reactionary forces just waited for the opportunity to repress the revolutions. In Austria under Prince Schwarzenberg (chief minister to Emperor Ferdinand) crushed all forms of popular expression as well as nationalism and used the army to impose order. Government was rigidly centralized and for people to forget liberty in return for material progress and administrative efficiency.75 Frankfurt Assembly: May 1848-May 1849
The Frankfurt Assembly attempted to create unified Germany state based upon the liberal ideas and a constitution assuring the rights of its citizens. Also they wanted a government that was responsive to popular will manifested by free elections and open parliamentary debate.76
The Frankfurt Assembly was possible because of the collapse of existing governments in March 1848. But it failed in its attempt to unify Germany on the basis of liberal ideas because the 39 states refused to surrender their sovereignty to a united Germany.77 Berlin and Prussia
Frederick William IV inherited the throne in 1840 and seemed to offer liberals some hope but he was also determined to not share power
Frederick William IV
with his subjects. His government was progress, efficient, and fair.78
On March 15, 1848 rioting and street-fighting broke out in Berlin. Frederick William called off his soldiers and allowed an all-Prussian legislative assembly. This assembly was radical because it was controlled by anti-Junker lower-class radicals. The assembly supported the Polish revolutionaries, who wanted Poland restored.79
But the army remained intact and its Junker officers waited for the opportunity to suppress the Prussian assembly. By 1848, King Frederick William changed his mind and the old authorities imposed control by use of the army.80 Failure of German Unification (liberal and constitutional)
In 1848 Germany failed to unify under the principles of liberalism. A less gentle form of nationalism soon replaced it. Thousands of disappointed liberals fled to the United States and came to be known as the “Forty-eighters,”.81
At the Olmultz conference in 1850, the three Eastern monarchies met (Russian tsar; Austrian emperor; and Prussian king). Prussia was forced to abandon its plan for the unification of Germany. The loose confederation of 1815 was restored. This was seen as a humiliation to Prussia.82 Failure of the Revolutions of 1848
The forces of repression, using the military, regained control and systematically eliminated any opposition. The ideas of liberalism persisted but were overwhelmed by the mass movements which included the workers (Socialism etc.) But one major accomplishment of the revolutions was the end of serfdom in Eastern Europe. This allowed peasants to migrate and enter the labor market but these peasants were conservative by nature and supported counterrevolutionary politics.83
Conclusion In Great Britain the Liberals were able to achieve power and instituted liberal ideas. They were able to maintain office on and off throughout most of the 19th Century. On the Continent the Liberals never attained national leadership positions but they were influential throughout most of the 19th Century. Liberal ideas were applied by national leaders in Germany especially, often using these ideas as a means to subvert the Liberal opposition. And individual states within Germany implemented liberal ideas. Thus Liberal ideas were influential until The First World War.
Notes
1. Davies, Norman. Europe, A History, 802.
2. Davies, 802. 3.Chambers, Mortimer et. al, The Western Experience (Ninth Edition) Pg 677-678.
4. Suite101, Encyclopedia Britannica 5. Chambers, 678
6. Mill, John Stuart. Utilitarianism, 10.
7. Chambers, 678.
8. Chambers, 679.
9. Mill, John Stuart, On Liberty, 3.
10. Mill, John Stuart, On Liberty and other writings,119.
11. Mill, Harriet Taylor, The Enfranchisement of Women, 13.
12. The BBC. Historic Figures: William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898).
35. Langewiesche, Dieter. Liberalism in Germany, 1. 36.Langewiesche, Dieter. 13-14.
37. Langewiesche, Dieter. 7.
38. Sheehan, James J. German History 1770-1866. 443.
39. Langewiesche, Dieter. 24.
40. Langewiesche, Dieter. 3-4.
41. New Encyclopaedia Britannica Macropaedia Volume 8: Knowledge in Depth 1981. pg 106.
42. Chambers, 650.
43. Langewiesche, Dieter. 11.
44. Sheehan, James J. 408
45. Langewiesche, Dieter. 25.
46. Langewiesche, Dieter. 18-19.
47. Langewiesche, Dieter. 56.
48. Sheehan, James J. 854.
49. Langewiesche, Dieter. 63.
50. Langewiesche, Dieter. 71-73.
51. Langewiesche, Dieter. 76.
52. Langewiesche, Dieter. 76-78.
53."National Liberal Party." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
54. Sheehan, 656.
55. Palmer, R. R. History of the Modern World. 4th Edition, 511-512.
56. Palmer, 512-513.
57. Palmer, 512.
58. Palmer, 512.
59. Palmer, 512.
60. Palmer, 512.
61. Palmer, 513-514.
62. Palmer, 513-514.
63. Palmer, 514.
64. Palmer, 514-515.
65. Palmer, 515.
66. Palmer, 515.
67. Palmer, 516-517.
68. Palmer, 517.
69. Palmer, 519.
70. Palmer, 520.
71. Palmer, 520-521.
72. Palmer, 521-522.
73. Palmer, 522-523.
74. Palmer, 522-523.
75. Palmer,524-526.
76. Palmer, 528-529.
77. Palmer, 529-530.
78. Palmer, 527-528.
79. Palmer, 528.
80. Palmer, 528.
81. Palmer, 532.
82. Palmer, 532.
83. Palmer, 533
Annotated Bibliography Primary Sources
Declaration of the rights of man and the citizen. from The French Revolution and Human Rights; A Brief documentary History. Edited and translated by Lynn Hunt. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press. 1996.
Key document to understanding 19th Century Liberalism.
Karlsbad Decree as cited in The Western Experience, Volume II since the sixteenth Centuryby Chambers, Mortimer, Rabb, Theodore K., Grew, Raymond, Hanawalt, Barabar, Woloch, Isser, Tiersten, Lisa. New York: McGraw Hill. 2007. German states issued resolutions in 1819 to suppress liberal and nationalistic tendencies.
Mill, Harriet Taylor. The Enfranchisement of Women. Great Britain: J.E Taylor and Co. 1851. Taylor’s work here justifies the equality and empowerment of women.She discusses how all should be equal and how women should have just as many opportunities as men.We used this book to compare and contrast Taylor’s work with Mill’s and also used quotes.
Mill, John Stuart. Utilitarianism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1906. This book is about the author’s views on Utilitarianism.It was written to discuss and point out important theories that Mill had.I primarily used it for quotes and for a basic idea of what Mill was trying to get at.It was a useful tool for both objectives.
Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty and other writings. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1989. This book is a collaboration of John Stuart Mill’s work on several of his publications.It mainly talks about his book On Liberty andthe Subjection of Women.Again, it was mainly used as a source for quotes.
Reference Books
New Cambridge Modern History, The Volume 10 The zenith of European Power, 1830-70. Edited by J. P. T. Bury. Cambridge University Press, 1957-79.
Authoritative series covering the years 1830-1870 including in depth information on Europe and the rest of the world during this time period.
New Encyclopaedia Britannica Macropaedia Volume 8: Knowledge in Depth. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica Incorporated, 1981. Good in depth knowledge on many different subjects including European History.
Wetterau, Bruce. World History: A Dictionary of important people, places, and events, from Ancient times to the Present. New York, Henry Holt and Company. 1994. Short articles on liberalism, the Revolutions of 1848 and European history in general. Good for general background information. Websites
Encyclopedia Britannica. Liberalism in the 19th Century. **http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/339173/liberalism/237346/Liberalism-in-the**19th-century This site provided an overview of Liberalism as well.It was detailed about the movement as a whole, but also provided information about different areas of liberalism.This is reputable source in our opinion and provided accurate, knowledgeable information.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online. National Liberal Party.http://www.britannica.com/EBcgecked/topic/405018/National-Liberal-Party.2009. This website is an authority on my different subjects from history. On this specific web page we found information pertaining to the National liberal party and how it came about as well as their functions in the Germanies.
“Historic Figures: William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898)”. The BBC. **http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/gladstone_william_ewart.shtml**** This site provided basic information on William Gladstone as well as some of his accomplishments.It was an informative website and though maybe not quite a scholarly source, provided what I thought to be legitimate information. Suite101. Evolutionary Liberalism in Great Britain: Examines Changes in Liberal Economic and Political Thought. http://modern-british-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/evolutionary_liberalism_in_great_britain 16 December 2008. This site provided an overview of Liberalism in Great Britain, as well as some detailed information about certain time periods.We found it to be useful for background information leading to the Liberalism movement. Scholarly Monographs Arblaster, Anthony. Rise and decline of Western Liberalism, the. New York: Basil Blackwell. 1987. Good introduction to liberalism with a bibliography but a bit dated. Kahan, Alan S. Liberalism in Nineteenth-Century Europe; The Political culture of limited suffrage. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2003. Excellent introduction to liberalism with an updated bibliography but limited in subject matter. Langewiesche, Dieter. Liberalism in Germany. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press 2000.
This book goes quite in depth when it comes to the liberalism in the Germanies. We found it very useful when comparing and contrasting the differences between liberalism in the Germanies compared to the rest of Europe in the 19th century.
Scholarly Journals
Kurer, Oskar. “John Stuart Mill: Liberal or Utilitarian?” European Journal of the History of Economic Thought (1999) 6(2): 200-215 16p.
The author contends that Mill was in fact more of a utilitarian because he favored maximizing welfare and justified government intervention when it improved the welfare of society.
Kurlander, Eric. “Nationalism, Ethnic Preoccupation, and the Decline of German Liberalism: A Silesian Case Study, 1898-1933.” Historian (2002) 65(1): 95-121 27p. This article follows the decline of German liberalism in 1898-1933 blaming it’s fall not only on external crisis such as the Versallies Treaty and economic depression, but also on the growth of “volkisch” nationalism.
Vincent, K. Steven. “French Historical Studies (2000) 23(4): 607-637 31p. This article explores the prominent French liberal Benjamin Constant and his ideas on how liberalism evolved out of the French Revolution. The author contends that Constant’s beliefs about enthusiasm and reaction to melancholy make his idea of liberalism as “romantic”.
Other Works Cited
Chambers, Mortimer, Rabb, Theodore K., Grew, Raymond, Hanawalt, Barabar, Woloch, Isser, Tiersten, Lisa. The Western Experience, Volume II since the Sixteenth Century. New York: McGraw Hill. 2007. This book is a collaboration of several authors recanting history from the sixteenth century. It was very useful for several different sub topics of ours.It was informative, yet concise.
Palmer, R. R. and Joel Colton. History of the modern world. (Fourth Ed.) New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1971. Provides good details on Modern European history. It is perhaps a bit dated but still very useful.
Sheehan, James J. German History 1770-1866. New York; Oxford University Press, 1993. This book was a very complete and in depth source for information on German history in the late 18th into late 19th centuries. We found this book very useful in learning about German liberalism as well as for obtaining more information of what was going on in the Germanies prior to during, and after the liberal movement.
Wright, Gordon. Francein modern times; From the Enlightenment to the present. (Third Ed.) New York: W. W. Norton and Company. 1981.**
A good standard history of modern France, dealing with the Revolution of 1789 and the 19th century.
Group: Tracey Brent; Allen Vang; Charlotte Antonson; Edward Staats
Introduction
The purpose of this project is to explore 19th Century Classical Liberalism. 19th Century liberals were men of the bourgeois, who disdained the aristocracy but who looked down on the property-less working class. They advocated for the principles of the French Revolution but abhorred the violence that followed after 1789. They believed in Liberty, Equality and Fraternity and the principles of the Rights of Man and the Citizen proclaimed in August of 1789 and believed in the principle of property as the source of responsible judgment and solid citizenship. But they had many diverse ideas and differed in Great Britain; France and the Germanies.1
The Revolutions of 1848 were the Liberals attempt to achieve their political goals of constitutional monarchies but failed in Prussia, Austria and France because of the forces of reaction and conservatism that retook power after the collapse of the 1848 Revolutions.
The term Liberal comes from the Spanish word liberales, who drew up their Constitution of 1812 in opposition to the absolutist Spanish monarchy. But liberal ideas came from the Enlightenment as the French Revolution of 1789.2
Liberalism can be divided into: Social Liberalism; Economic Liberalism; and Political Liberalism.
Social Liberalism viewed society in terms of freedom of individual choice and opportunities for growth. Each individual succeeded through their own efforts and if they failed it was because of some inherent weakness and deserved no charity.
Economic Liberalism that stressed Laissez faire and believed in no governmental interference in the market and no trade barriers or worker’s unions, as David Ricardo expounded about economic laws and the “iron law of wages”. 3
Political liberalism worked for constitutional and representative institutions; freedom of assembly and the press (no censorship). But they did not necessarily favor democracy since only men of property, wisdom and education had sufficient political judgment. Liberals believed in the ideas of John Locke. They believed these political ideas would benefit all individuals and provide the opportunity for advancement. We start with Great Britain, the outstanding exception to the continent, where liberalism flourished for most of the 19th Century.
Liberalism in Great Britain (TB)
The liberal movement started in the 1870’s in Great Britain. It was a political, social, and economic movement that began here sooner than anywhere else, and was thought to be more successful here than anywhere in continental Europe. Once known as the Whig Party, it transformed into the Liberal Party. This movement was heavily influenced by John Locke, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill. During this time the British government passed legislation to introduce compulsory primary school education, reduce working hours within industries, as well as introducing the first safety standards for factories. These were small steps towards greater levels of state intervention in social and economic matters.4
Economic Liberalism
As noted early, Great Britain was thought to be the model of liberalism. David Ricardo and Adam Smith were two of this time periods’ founding members of philosophies on economic prosperity. David Ricardo (1772-1823), an English political economi
Adam Smith (1723-1790), also a philosopher of this time, wrote The Wealth of Nations (1776), a book discussing and encouraging a free market economy. Both Smith and Ricardo believed that the market should be free of regulation and restrictions. They also believed that the state should not regulate production or trade. They believed that for a state to achieve economic growth, politicians must adopt some of the efficiency and energy of the men of action who transformed the economy.5
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is defined as the idea that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its contribution to overall utility: that is, its contribution to happiness or pleasure as summed among all people. The idea of utilitarianism was most recognized by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832),
Bentham’s followers called themselves “philosophic radicals” and while they didn’t always adopt all of his beliefs, they did always apply his principles. By his death in 1832, they were among the most important reformers of Parliament, law, prisons, education, and welfare. They pushed for “humane reforms on grounds of common sense and natural harmony.” 7
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill was thought to be the most important liberal thinker of the nineteenth century. Raised under strict utilitarianism and a student of
Mill is famous for several well known writings including On Liberty (1859), which was one of the most important works in European political theory. On Liberty is a “balanced, yet unyielding declaration that society can have no higher interest that the freedom of each of its members.” Mill believed that rulers should have limits on their powers and that people have a right to have a say in government’s decisions.8 He believed that social liberty was “the nature and limits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual.” It was attempted in two ways: first, by obtaining recognition of certain immunities, called political liberties or rights; second, by establishment of a system of "constitutional checks ". Mill believed however that limiting government’s power was simply not enough. He goes on to say:
“Society can and does execute its own mandates: and if it issues wrong mandates instead of right, or any mandates at all in things with which it ought not to meddle, it practices a social tyranny more formidable than many kinds of political oppression, since, though not usually upheld by such extreme penalties, it leaves fewer means of escape, penetrating much more deeply into the details of life, and enslaving the soul itself.” What Mill means, is that man must control his own destiny. He also states that, "Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.” 9
John Stuart Mill was also an advocate for universal suffrage. He favored woman’s rights and equality. In 1851 Mill married Harriet Taylor (1807-1858)
William Gladstone
William Gladstone (1809-1898),
William Gladstone also had a strong influence on reform in his time. In his first year as Prime Minister, his government created the first national elementary program along with reforms in the justice system and civil service. Gladstone is famous for stating “Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear.”12
While Great Britian was affected by the Enlightenment France was influenced by the French intellectuals of the Enlightenment and especially the Revolution of 1789.
Liberalism in France
The Rights of Man and the Citizen (AV)
To understand French liberalism the place to start is the Revolution of 1789 and the key document is the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. This document called for all men to be citizens, no longer subjects but as citizens to have rights and responsibilities. The first article: “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on common utility.” This was the basis of liberalism and in particular French liberalism and was derived from the ideas of the Enlightenment. (Hunt, Lynn Brief documentary history. Pg. 78)13
The second article: “The purpose of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression”. These liberties were the core principles to Liberalism. (Hunt, Lynn Brief documentary history. Pg. 78)14
Article three states: “the principles of all sovereignty rests essentially in the nation. No body and on individual may exercise authority which does not emanate expressly from the nation.” This was the basis for liberals to assert that as property owners they had the political wisdom to be able to exercise authority. That authority no longer belongs to the aristocracy or monarchy. (Hunt, Lynn Brief documentary history. Pg. 78)15
Article four states: “liberty consists in the ability to do whatever does not harm another; hence the exercise of natural rights of each man has no other limits than those which assures to other members of society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by the law.” Liberals saw this as providing no restraint on one’s liberty except when it injured or limited another. This was the basis for much of the social and economic liberal practices. (Hunt, Lynn Brief documentary history. Pg. 78)16
Article fourteen states: “All citizens have the right, by themselves or through their representatives, to have demonstrated to them the necessity of public taxes, to consent to them freely, to follow the use made of the proceeds, and to determine the means of apportionment, assessment, and collection, and the duration of them.” Economic liberals were particularly concerned about a limited government and its taxing authority. (Hunt, Lynn Brief documentary history. Pg. 79)17
Article seventeen states: “Property being an inviolable and sacred right, no one may be deprived of it except when public necessity, certified by law, obviously requires it, and on the condition of a just compensation in advance.” (Hunt, Lynn Brief documentary history. Pg. 79)18
Laissez-faire was what the French liberals wanted from their government; limited government which protect the rights of private property, does not interfere in the market and imposes no trade barriers, either internal or international tariffs. This philosophy freed the French enterprises from the restrictions of both the old gild system and Napoleonic wartime controls. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 156) 19
Self-styled Liberal Party (1814)
In general the French liberals subscribed to the principles of the French Revolution of 1789 but abhorred the violence that followed in 1793 and the period of the Reign of Terror. Once Napoleon was defeated and exiled and the allies installed the Bourbon restoration (1814), the French Liberal party was a mosaic of elements joined together by little more than common hostility to the Bourbons. Their leaders were: Lafayette (republican); Jacques Manuel (a Bonapartist); and Benjamin Constant (a constitutional monarchist). But none of these were effective leaders. The republican faction was small and feared for their violence and anarchy. The chief spokesmen of the Liberal party were constitutional monarchist who stood for a parliamentary system like Great Britain, with rights protected by the state and suffrage limited to men of property. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 106)20
The Bonapartists were the most curious adherent to the liberal coalition. They may appear to be part of the coalition as a marriage of convenience, hypocritical alliance of authoritarian and liberals bound by nothing more than their common desire to destroy the Bourbon compromise. They both felt a strong common bond when the fundamental achievements of the revolution were thought to be in danger. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 106)21
After 1816 the political trend was steadily leftward, with every election more liberals gained seats. Elie Decazes (minister to the king) clung to a middle of the road line in the belief that he could persuade the milder liberals to his cause. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 105)22
When the Chamber met in 1830, the king and his ministers prepared secret decrees (July Ordinances) that dissolved the newly-elected chamber even before its first meeting. This meant that the liberals were deprived of the right to vote and stripped the press of any semblance of liberty. To ensure surprise no troops were moved to Paris to reinforce the garrison. But the king assumed that no protests would result from these actions. And the government was confident since the French army had been successful in Algeria and it was anticipated that patriotism would sweep away any protest. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 114)23
But within “three glorious days”, Charles had lost his throne and his capital. The insurrection started gradually, with a few small demonstrations on the 27th, street clashes on the 28th and on the 29th street barricades, when the royal garrison abandoned the city to the rebels. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 114)24
A group of liberal politicians and journalists had been meeting sporadically from the outset of the crisis in an effort to shape and control the course of events. But they could not agree on any effective action until the 29th. The liberal leaders hastily named a governing commission for Paris. Its members were constitutional monarchists; its aim was to substitute a new dynasty for the old. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 114)25
Thiers called for the Duke d’Orleans to ascend the throne as a constitutional monarch. Charles abdicated and went into exile for the second time to England. Louis-Philippe ascended the throne and had the support of Lafayette, who had previously refused to accept the presidency of a French republic. With the crowning of a new king, the revolution of 1830 was over. French liberals did not form a solid block. One section became reconciled with the monarchial compromise of 1814-1848 and sought to provide a doctrine this fusion of revolution and old regime. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pgs 115 & 184)26
The left-wing current of liberal thought persisted thoughout the period. It was ess easily satisfied by the monarchiacal compromise and more inclined to cling to the heritage of the Enlightenment. They showed little creative talent in presenting new ideas. Their most notable thinkers were Benjamin Constant and J. B. Say during the Bourbon period; Adolphe Thiers, Charles de Remusat, and Frederic Bastiat in the Orleanist period; Lucien Prevost-Paradol under the Second Empire. The total intellectual contribution to the development of liberal theory was remarkably meager especially when contrasted with the richness of French liberal though in the age of reason and with the vigor and variety of the English contribution. French liberalism in the nineteenth century could do little mre than produce pale imitators or dilettantes and it seemed that the liberal ideology had faded after the flowering before the French Revolution of 1789. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 185) 27
Prominent French Liberals
Bastiat, Frederic (1801-1850) was a liberal economist who died prematurely of tuberculosis. He asserted that the only purpose of government is to defend the right of an individual to life, liberty, and property. From this definition, Bastiat concluded that the law cannot defend life, liberty and property if it promotes socialist policies inherently opposed to these very things. In this way, he says, the law is perverted and turned against the thing it is supposed to defend. (Wright, Gordon. France in modern times. Pg 185) 28
Constant de Rebecque , Henri-Benjamin (1767 – 1830) was a fervent liberal, fought against the Restauration and was active in French politics as a publicist and politician during the latter half of the French Revolution and between 1815 and 1830. During part of this latter period, he sat in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower legislative house of the Restoration-era government. He was one of its most eloquent orators and a leader of the parliamentary block first known as the Indepentants and then as liberals. (Apply reference) 29
Prevost-Paradol, Lucien 30
de Remusat, Charles 31
Say, Jean-Baptiste (1767-1832)
Thiers, Adolphe 33
de Tocqueville, Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel (1805- 1859) was an eminent representative of the classical liberal political tradition, Tocqueville was an active participant in French politics, first under the July Monarchy (1830–1848) and then during the Second Republic (1849–1851) which succeeded the February 1848 Revolution. He retired from political life after Louis Napoleon Bonaparte's December 1851 coup. (Apply reference)34
The Napoleonic conquests of the German States introduced the ideas of the French Revolution into the German States.
Liberalism in the German States (CA)
Liberalism as a political movement began in the Germanies in 1815 when the people started to push for a constitution to safeguard their rights from the state as well as allow them to participate in it.35 This would lead one to think that they were pushing for a new form of government entirely which is not the case; the liberals in the German confederation wanted a constitutional monarchy which would leave their existing monarchies in place. The people were skeptical of completely giving up their traditional form of government so they compromised by leaving the monarchies in place and just limiting their powers through the guarantees of freedom for citizens given by the constitution.36 The constitution would provide them with liberty by ensuring the individuals rights and freedoms were protected against the state as well as provide them with citizenship by allowing them to participate in the state.37 This participation, or suffrage, would not however be granted to everyone, only male property owners, leaving women, minorities, and the landless population out since they were not considered independent enough in their thoughts and opinions to participate.38
August von Ludwig
When looking at early liberalism in the Germanies it is essential to address August Ludwig von Schlözer who was considered the forefather of German liberalism in that his views and ideals became those of the future liberal movement. Ludwig von Schlözer wanted the rule of law to be applied to all people within the state including the Monarchs to assure citizens retained their original human rights. This was adopted by later liberals who, as was stated before, wanted to keep the monarchy in place but have their powers be limited by the constitution or rule of law. Schlözer saw reform, not revolution, as the path to make this reality which was the sentiment of the later liberals who watched the French Revolution fail and did not want a repeat of that in their countries.39 Schlözer also called for legal equality while at the same time accepting the theory that some inequalities in class rank and economic circumstances were due to the differences in ability and talent. In his opinion if everyone was given an equal opportunity to succeed then those who did not could blame no one but themselves.40 This theory held over to the liberals who were made up of industrialists, merchants, financiers, mine owners, railroad promoters, civil servants and university professors. They were against privilege yet in favor of property rights and such because they felt that those who were successful enough to acquire it were entitled to keep it. 41
Karlsbad Decrees 1819
A question to address in the early liberals motivations is why liberalism was pushed so strongly within the Germanies. This is answered by examining the Karlsbad Decrees of 1819 which were a set of decrees meant to keep the political public, or those in office, from spouting left-wing, or liberal, ideals. Those civil servants with liberal leanings had to either change their opinions to match that of the government or risk being fired and black balled from other jobs, jail time, or worse. The decrees called for a closer supervision of universities to be sure that teachers were not teaching the liberal views that could potentially be harmful to the state .42 The press was also monitored and censored to ensure they stayed favorable to the government which to the liberals was one of the worst parts of the decrees because they saw free press as a way for individuals to participate in politics and of uniting Germany.43 There was also a federal bureau set up by the decrees to help contain the revolutionary agitation by the liberals. These decrees were meant to suppress the liberal movement but it actually had the opposite effect, the liberals were spurred on and enraged by the decrees and responded with more agitation and a stronger push for liberalization .44
Nationalism
The early liberals of the Germanies not only wanted the freedoms and participation involved in the liberalization process, they also liked the idea of nationalism that liberalism sported. The Germanies were divided into individual states with different governments, economies, and social spheres which prevented them from emerging as a strong political or economic leader within the European states. The thought of nationalization was vital to the liberal movement gaining support in the early 1840’s. Many people wanted to unite the Germanies under a common culture and sense of identity which the liberalists connected to their movement and were able to gain many nationalist supporters to their cause.45 Although the Germanies wanted to emerge as a more economically powerful and stable state they did not want to liberalize their economies.
Economic liberalism
In the early years of liberalism economic liberalism did not go hand in hand with political liberalism in the Germanies. The German liberals did not agree with the policy of free economy that Adam Smith advocated for and that England eventually adopted, they saw a free market as a war of everyone against everyone with no one actually benefiting. Instead of unlimited competition the early liberals called for free access to guilds with some laws in place to govern trade and industry to ensure some protections.46
Decade of Reaction 1849-1859
There was a revolutionary attempt in the Germanies by the liberals to try and change the traditional political structure and impose a constitution to ensure their freedoms. This revolution and its failure will be talked about more in depth later in the paper, this section will talk about the after effects of the revolution. After the failure of the liberal revolution of 1848 and 1849 there followed a decade of reaction within the Germanies that lasted from 1849 to 1859 in which the liberals were suppressed and the monarchs began to try and reassert their powers.47 There was a sense of Realpolitick or political reality among the German liberals, Ludwig August von Rochau sums up this feeling after he wrote the book Grundsätze der Realpolitik in1853 when he said, “The castles that they built in the air have evaporated, the defenceless rights, whose theoretical recognition they achieved, have no more than an apparent effect on practice.”48 This quote follows the feeling of the liberals after the failed revolution in that they realized that the ambitions of the past generation were not all together realistic; they built up an illusionary government that did not and could not really exist and in the end there was not much left. The German people finally just accepted the existing government and decided to work with it rather than try to change it for the better. Rochau did, however, believe that the revolution had shown the monarchies how important the middle class was by showing the government that they did exist and that they could rally enough to impact the governmental structure. The revolution show that the middle class wanted to play a more major role in politics and that if they did not get it they would revolt again.49
This was true for most although realpolitik meant something a little different to Julius Hölder who in 1855 began a new campaign for change when he united the democratic and the liberal parties. The two parties joined together after many years of considering each other enemies in a parliamentary party in order to resist the government’s plans to revise the municipal organization that had been liberalized in 1849. To Julius Hölder Realpolitik was not sacrificing all liberal values but also not pushing for unrealistic changes in the government. The party wanted to cooperate with the government as much as possible while continuing to push for some reforms they saw as necessary such as keeping things like the Basic Rights from repeal. The Basic Rights being repealed by the Chamber of Deputies in 1852 was actually one of the main factors leading to the parties joining forces.50
The liberals were not the only ones to compromise after the revolution, the governments and monarchies also began to realize that compromise and some cooperation was the best policy to ensure peace and unity. This is seen in the words of King Maximilian II of Bavaria in 1859, “I want peace with my people and with me Chambers.” This was in regard to the strife present within his Chambers of Deputies as well as among his citizens. In order to achieve this peace he granted legal emancipation to the Jews, enacted a new commercial law, and reformed the judicial system. National unity is the one area in which the liberals and many monarchs agreed on and they all saw nationalism as the way to achieve this.51
Baden Liberalism
There was one successful liberal state within the Germanies that served as a kind of model of liberalism for other German states for a time and that was Baden. They decentralized the block of state administration and created new district councils to enforce local self-government. The state fulfilled one of the main ideals of the German liberals in 1864 when justice reforms turned it into a state founded on the rule of law. Another liberal goal was to have separation of the justice and administration which was also adapted in Baden in 1864 through the reforms. There was also occupational freedom and freedom of movement and marriage. Additionally the Badenese liberalism followed the liberal ideals when it came to economic policies; there was not a call for full freedom of trade but instead a cautious reform of the existing guild system. Baden’s liberal government, run by the Lamey-Roggenbach cabinet, collapsed in 1865 when Roggenbach’s national policies failed and he was forced to accept those of Bismark.52
Despite the fact that liberalism did not take a strong hold within the states of Germany during the 19th century they still left their mark and continued to be active in the political realm for years to come. The National Liberal Party continued to run candidates in German elections and won more seats than any other party between 1871 and 1879 under the leadership of Rudolf von Benningsen and Johannes von Miquel.53
The Revolutions of 1848 were the attempt by liberals in the German states to secure constitutional monarchies and the end of serfdom by were largely a failure because of the reactionary forces.
Revolutions of 1848 (ES)
Elements of Revolutions
There are two elements necessary for people to engage in revolutions. The first is that life is no longer tolerable, that the conditions of everyday life have been bad over many times and places but few revolutions have occurred. The second element is that people who suffer must also believe that a better life is possible for themselves or their community. Only with these two elements do people have the courage to act.54
Revolutions of 1848
The Revolutions of 1848 were separate, spontaneous events throughout Europe. Many people throughout Europe wanted essentially the same things: constitutional government; the independence and unification of national groups; and an end to serfdom were it still existed.55
The “February” Revolution in France
The monarchy of Louis-Philippe
Louis-Philippe expressly opposed these actions and the government forbade all such meetings. Barricades were erected in the working class quarters of Paris as the insurgents prepared to resist the government.57
The National Guard was called out but refused to move against the insurgents. Louis-Philippe promised electoral reforms but the republicans took charge of the mobilized workers and they demonstrated in front of the house of Francois Guizot (Louis-Philippe’s chief minister).58
The guards around Guizot’s house fired on the demonstrators, killing twenty people. These “martyrs” were paraded throughout the city and the armed workers rioted.59
This led to Louis-Philippe abdicating and he fled to England on February 24, 1848. The republicans forced the proclamation of the Second Republic, setting up a provisional government of ten men, one of whom was Lamartine and called for an elected Constituent Assembly.60
The Provisional Government, urged by the Socialist Louis Blanc, established “The National Workshops” but no real work was assigned to them. They became an extensive project in unemployment relief. Men were given the task of digging roads and fortifications outside of Paris. By the middle of June 120,000 men enrolled in the Workshops with an additional 50,000 men idle in Paris.61
The Constituent Assembly, elected by universal suffrage, met in May and replaced the Provisional Government. Lamartine was the head of the executive board.62
France was a rural country of provincial bourgeois and peasant landlords, quite conservative in outlook. But Paris was more supportive of revolutionary action that the rest of the country could not support. The French workingmen were tormented by the evils of long working hours, small pay and the insecurity of employment. They felt that the capitalist economy held no future for them.63
The “June Days” of 1848
The National Workshops in Paris brought together these discontented workers were they could talk, listen to lectures and speeches and agree on common action. Agitators made use of the opportunity and the workers were desperate, feeling that the republic was not meeting their needs. On May 15, 1848, they attacked the Constituent Assembly and dove out its members and declared it dissolved and set up a new provisio0nal government of the workers. But the National Guard (a civilian militia) turned against the insurgents and restored the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly abolished the National Workshops and the workers were to enlist in the Army, join provincial workshops, or be expelled from Paris by force.64
The workers resisted these plans and the government proclaimed martial law, with power transferred to the regular army under General
The class warfare of the June Days reverberated throughout France and Europe. It was seen that class war had broken out and militant workers confirmed that the bourgeois class would use the army to defend capitalism and society was “a prey to a feeling of terror comparable to anything since the invasion of Rome by the barbarians” wrote a French woman.66
The Constituent Assembly drafted a republican constitution but with a strong executive president elected by universal suffrage. Four candidates ran for president: Lamartine and Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte and two other lesser candidates. Bonaparte was elected overwhelmingly in December 1848 receiving 5.4 million votes.67
With this election and subsequent plebiscites Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte gained control of the Second Republic of France and established the Second Empire. But this was a conservative, monarchist Legislative Assembly. The French, bored with the drab bourgeois monarchy were stirred by the Napoleonic Legend and past imperial glories.68
Vienna and Habsburg Austria of 1848
The Austrian empire was divided into three major divisions: Austria; Bohemia; and Hungary; with a dozen different nationalities or language groups: Germans; Czechs; Magyars etc. Often these nationalities lived intertwined together, languages changed from house to house.69
Austria was also the most influential power within the German Confederation. This influence was throughout as was previously mentioned enactment of the Karlsbad decrees. Austria’s influence also reached into much of Italy, even to the Papal States until 1846.70
But nationalism was stirring in the Austrian empire and that yearning for independence even within the Austrian empire was simmering just below the surface. The Polish and Hungarian gentry for generations had been nationalistic. To win over the masses these nationalists promised an end to serfdom.71
The March Days
On March 13, 1848 everything collapsed with news of the February Revolution in Paris. Workingmen and students rose in insurrection, manned barricades, fought off soldiers and invaded the imperial palace. The government collapsed and Clemens von Metternich resigned and fled to England. Emperor Ferdinand was forced to grant Hungary and Bohemia complete constitutional separation within the empire.72
Revolution spread throughout the empire and though Germany. Rioting in Berlin led to the king of Prussia (Frederick William IV) to promise a constitution.
Repression in the Austrian empire
The reactionary forces just waited for the opportunity to repress the revolutions. In Austria under Prince Schwarzenberg (chief minister to Emperor Ferdinand) crushed all forms of popular expression as well as nationalism and used the army to impose order. Government was rigidly centralized and for people to forget liberty in return for material progress and administrative efficiency.75
Frankfurt Assembly: May 1848-May 1849
The Frankfurt Assembly attempted to create unified Germany state based upon the liberal ideas and a constitution assuring the rights of its citizens. Also they wanted a government that was responsive to popular will manifested by free elections and open parliamentary debate.76
The Frankfurt Assembly was possible because of the collapse of existing governments in March 1848. But it failed in its attempt to unify Germany on the basis of liberal ideas because the 39 states refused to surrender their sovereignty to a united Germany.77
Berlin and Prussia
Frederick William IV inherited the throne in 1840 and seemed to offer liberals some hope but he was also determined to not share power
On March 15, 1848 rioting and street-fighting broke out in Berlin. Frederick William called off his soldiers and allowed an all-Prussian legislative assembly. This assembly was radical because it was controlled by anti-Junker lower-class radicals. The assembly supported the Polish revolutionaries, who wanted Poland restored.79
But the army remained intact and its Junker officers waited for the opportunity to suppress the Prussian assembly. By 1848, King Frederick William changed his mind and the old authorities imposed control by use of the army.80
Failure of German Unification (liberal and constitutional)
In 1848 Germany failed to unify under the principles of liberalism. A less gentle form of nationalism soon replaced it. Thousands of disappointed liberals fled to the United States and came to be known as the “Forty-eighters,”.81
At the Olmultz conference in 1850, the three Eastern monarchies met (Russian tsar; Austrian emperor; and Prussian king). Prussia was forced to abandon its plan for the unification of Germany. The loose confederation of 1815 was restored. This was seen as a humiliation to Prussia.82
Failure of the Revolutions of 1848
The forces of repression, using the military, regained control and systematically eliminated any opposition. The ideas of liberalism persisted but were overwhelmed by the mass movements which included the workers (Socialism etc.) But one major accomplishment of the revolutions was the end of serfdom in Eastern Europe. This allowed peasants to migrate and enter the labor market but these peasants were conservative by nature and supported counterrevolutionary politics.83
Conclusion
In Great Britain the Liberals were able to achieve power and instituted liberal ideas. They were able to maintain office on and off throughout most of the 19th Century. On the Continent the Liberals never attained national leadership positions but they were influential throughout most of the 19th Century. Liberal ideas were applied by national leaders in Germany especially, often using these ideas as a means to subvert the Liberal opposition. And individual states within Germany implemented liberal ideas. Thus Liberal ideas were influential until The First World War.
Notes
1. Davies, Norman. Europe, A History, 802.
2. Davies, 802.
3.Chambers, Mortimer et. al, The Western Experience (Ninth Edition) Pg 677-678.
4. Suite101, Encyclopedia Britannica
5. Chambers, 678
6. Mill, John Stuart. Utilitarianism, 10.
7. Chambers, 678.
8. Chambers, 679.
9. Mill, John Stuart, On Liberty, 3.
10. Mill, John Stuart, On Liberty and other writings, 119.
11. Mill, Harriet Taylor, The Enfranchisement of Women, 13.
12. The BBC. Historic Figures: William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898).
35. Langewiesche, Dieter. Liberalism in Germany, 1.
36.Langewiesche, Dieter. 13-14.
37. Langewiesche, Dieter. 7.
38. Sheehan, James J. German History 1770-1866. 443.
39. Langewiesche, Dieter. 24.
40. Langewiesche, Dieter. 3-4.
41. New Encyclopaedia Britannica Macropaedia Volume 8: Knowledge in Depth 1981. pg 106.
42. Chambers, 650.
43. Langewiesche, Dieter. 11.
44. Sheehan, James J. 408
45. Langewiesche, Dieter. 25.
46. Langewiesche, Dieter. 18-19.
47. Langewiesche, Dieter. 56.
48. Sheehan, James J. 854.
49. Langewiesche, Dieter. 63.
50. Langewiesche, Dieter. 71-73.
51. Langewiesche, Dieter. 76.
52. Langewiesche, Dieter. 76-78.
53."National Liberal Party." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
54. Sheehan, 656.
55. Palmer, R. R. History of the Modern World. 4th Edition, 511-512.
56. Palmer, 512-513.
57. Palmer, 512.
58. Palmer, 512.
59. Palmer, 512.
60. Palmer, 512.
61. Palmer, 513-514.
62. Palmer, 513-514.
63. Palmer, 514.
64. Palmer, 514-515.
65. Palmer, 515.
66. Palmer, 515.
67. Palmer, 516-517.
68. Palmer, 517.
69. Palmer, 519.
70. Palmer, 520.
71. Palmer, 520-521.
72. Palmer, 521-522.
73. Palmer, 522-523.
74. Palmer, 522-523.
75. Palmer,524-526.
76. Palmer, 528-529.
77. Palmer, 529-530.
78. Palmer, 527-528.
79. Palmer, 528.
80. Palmer, 528.
81. Palmer, 532.
82. Palmer, 532.
83. Palmer, 533
Annotated Bibliography
Primary Sources
Declaration of the rights of man and the citizen. from The French Revolution and Human Rights; A Brief documentary History. Edited and translated by Lynn Hunt. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press. 1996.
Key document to understanding 19th Century Liberalism.
Karlsbad Decree as cited in The Western Experience, Volume II since the sixteenth Century by Chambers, Mortimer, Rabb, Theodore K., Grew, Raymond, Hanawalt, Barabar, Woloch, Isser, Tiersten, Lisa. New York: McGraw Hill. 2007.
German states issued resolutions in 1819 to suppress liberal and nationalistic tendencies.
Mill, Harriet Taylor. The Enfranchisement of Women. Great Britain: J.E Taylor and Co. 1851.
Taylor’s work here justifies the equality and empowerment of women. She discusses how all should be equal and how women should have just as many opportunities as men. We used this book to compare and contrast Taylor’s work with Mill’s and also used quotes.
Mill, John Stuart. Utilitarianism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1906.
This book is about the author’s views on Utilitarianism. It was written to discuss and point out important theories that Mill had. I primarily used it for quotes and for a basic idea of what Mill was trying to get at. It was a useful tool for both objectives.
Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty and other writings. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1989.
This book is a collaboration of John Stuart Mill’s work on several of his publications. It mainly talks about his book On Liberty and the Subjection of Women. Again, it was mainly used as a source for quotes.
Reference Books
New Cambridge Modern History, The Volume 10 The zenith of European Power, 1830-70. Edited by J. P. T. Bury. Cambridge University Press, 1957-79.
Authoritative series covering the years 1830-1870 including in depth information on Europe and the rest of the world during this time period.
New Encyclopaedia Britannica Macropaedia Volume 8: Knowledge in Depth. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica Incorporated, 1981.
Good in depth knowledge on many different subjects including European History.
Wetterau, Bruce. World History: A Dictionary of important people, places, and events, from Ancient times to the Present. New York, Henry Holt and Company. 1994.
Short articles on liberalism, the Revolutions of 1848 and European history in general. Good for general background information.
Websites
Encyclopedia Britannica. Liberalism in the 19th Century. **http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/339173/liberalism/237346/Liberalism-in-the** 19th-century
This site provided an overview of Liberalism as well. It was detailed about the movement as a whole, but also provided information about different areas of liberalism. This is reputable source in our opinion and provided accurate, knowledgeable information.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online. National Liberal Party. http://www.britannica.com/EBcgecked/topic/405018/National-Liberal-Party. 2009.
This website is an authority on my different subjects from history. On this specific web page we found information pertaining to the National liberal party and how it came about as well as their functions in the Germanies.
“Historic Figures: William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898)”. The BBC. **http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/gladstone_william_ewart.shtml****
This site provided basic information on William Gladstone as well as some of his accomplishments. It was an informative website and though maybe not quite a scholarly source, provided what I thought to be legitimate information.
Suite101. Evolutionary Liberalism in Great Britain: Examines Changes in Liberal Economic and Political Thought. http://modern-british-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/evolutionary_liberalism_in_great_britain 16 December 2008.
This site provided an overview of Liberalism in Great Britain, as well as some detailed information about certain time periods. We found it to be useful for background information leading to the Liberalism movement.
Scholarly Monographs
Arblaster, Anthony. Rise and decline of Western Liberalism, the. New York: Basil Blackwell. 1987.
Good introduction to liberalism with a bibliography but a bit dated.
Kahan, Alan S. Liberalism in Nineteenth-Century Europe; The Political culture of limited suffrage. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2003.
Excellent introduction to liberalism with an updated bibliography but limited in subject matter.
Langewiesche, Dieter. Liberalism in Germany. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press 2000.
This book goes quite in depth when it comes to the liberalism in the Germanies. We found it very useful when comparing and contrasting the differences between liberalism in the Germanies compared to the rest of Europe in the 19th century.
Scholarly Journals
Kurer, Oskar. “John Stuart Mill: Liberal or Utilitarian?” European Journal of the History of Economic Thought (1999) 6(2): 200-215 16p.
The author contends that Mill was in fact more of a utilitarian because he favored maximizing welfare and justified government intervention when it improved the welfare of society.
Kurlander, Eric. “Nationalism, Ethnic Preoccupation, and the Decline of German Liberalism: A Silesian Case Study, 1898-1933.” Historian (2002) 65(1): 95-121 27p.
This article follows the decline of German liberalism in 1898-1933 blaming it’s fall not only on external crisis such as the Versallies Treaty and economic depression, but also on the growth of “volkisch” nationalism.
Vincent, K. Steven. “ French Historical Studies (2000) 23(4): 607-637 31p.
This article explores the prominent French liberal Benjamin Constant and his ideas on how liberalism evolved out of the French Revolution. The author contends that Constant’s beliefs about enthusiasm and reaction to melancholy make his idea of liberalism as “romantic”.
Other Works Cited
Chambers, Mortimer, Rabb, Theodore K., Grew, Raymond, Hanawalt, Barabar, Woloch, Isser, Tiersten, Lisa. The Western Experience, Volume II since the Sixteenth Century. New York: McGraw Hill. 2007.
This book is a collaboration of several authors recanting history from the sixteenth century. It was very useful for several different sub topics of ours. It was informative, yet concise.
Palmer, R. R. and Joel Colton. History of the modern world. (Fourth Ed.) New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1971.
Provides good details on Modern European history. It is perhaps a bit dated but still very useful.
Sheehan, James J. German History 1770-1866. New York; Oxford University Press, 1993.
This book was a very complete and in depth source for information on German history in the late 18th into late 19th centuries. We found this book very useful in learning about German liberalism as well as for obtaining more information of what was going on in the Germanies prior to during, and after the liberal movement.
Wright, Gordon. France in modern times; From the Enlightenment to the present. (Third Ed.) New York: W. W. Norton and Company. 1981.**
A good standard history of modern France, dealing with the Revolution of 1789 and the 19th century.